Author: Victoria Elizabeth

Victoria Elizabeth http://www.victoriaelizabethann.com Bubbly and enthusiastic, I am a lover of all things pink. My writing style is as eclectic as my personal library, so you'll see everything from dark poetry to light-hearted short stories posted in my portfolio.

Accountability for Friday

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I wrote a nice, long post yesterday to give you an update on my day …and my browser froze, losing EVERYTHING.

Ugh.

Well, I don’t feel like repeating all of it, so I will just sum it up as best as I can:

1.) Discovered I could still taste peppermint despite my cold.
2.) “Accidentally” found my hidden stash of gourmet peppermint bark. :/
3.) Ate almost 500 calories of said peppermint bark.
4.) Felt guilty (since it wasn’t my cheat day), I hit the gym.

Here’s my summary for yesterday—

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I’m still feeling all of the cold symptoms, but it’s not enough to inhibit me from my workouts, so I’m going to stick with it until my body tells me otherwise.

Happy weekend to everyone!

Bon appetit, my friends!
– Tori

Setback: a Cold!

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The worst thing that can happen when you’re on a new exercise and diet regimen is a sudden, unexpected roadblock. That could be a birthday party invite, a holiday, an injury, or, in my case …a cold.

I had a sore throat and a bit of congestion when I woke up yesterday morning, and I noticed that my normal energy was lacking. I initially attributed it to overexercising the day before (which I most certainly had), and just took it easy yesterday.

Today, however, I woke up with major congestion in my lungs, a hacking cough, and a low grade fever.

UGH.

On the plus side: my appetite, which is normally uncontrollable, is barely a shadow of it’s normal self. I’m eating my planned snacks and lunch at work today purely out of habit, not hunger.

The down side is that I have zero energy. I’m exhausted, and I slept a full 8 hours last night. That, in itself, is unusual for me, as I tend to exist on 5-6 and feel great.

I don’t want to skip the gym, but I also don’t want to make myself worse …a bit of a dilemma.

My plan is this: eat healthy throughout the day, try to walk around the office (it’s raining outside, so that’s out the window for the moment), and see how I feel when I get home at 6pm. If I’m not feeling better, I’ll do a yoga workout video at home (very low intensity), but if most of my symptoms are better, I’ll try to squeeze in at least 30-45 minutes of cardio before having dinner.

Tomorrow night is the “cheat meal” for the week, and my husband and I are giving serious consideration to hitting Texas de Brazil. Go big or go home!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Accountability for Thursday

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OK, it’s my fourth day of clean eating (counting a daily cheat of chocolate and/or wine), and I definitely felt challenged to stay on track.

I had four pieces of chocolate, and it took every ounce of self control not to have 1,871,491 more. Ugh.

My appetite is crazy, probably from the massive amount of cardio I did yesterday. Here’s how I managed for the day:

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As you can see, I definitely toned down the cardio today. I’m sore (and tired), plus I have a bit of a sore throat/sniffle thing starting …uh oh. Hope I don’t catch something, as that will completely throw off my exercise routine.

I’m dosing up on NyQuil and hoping a good night’s sleep knocks it out of me.

On that note, bon appetit, my friends!
– Tori

Tiny Breakthrough!

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OK, I know I promised myself I wouldn’t weigh-in daily (trying to do just Monday/Wednesday/Friday), but I woke up this morning and felt smaller. I’m not sure if it was the ridiculous cardio yesterday or the fact that I couldn’t stop going potty (seriously, I felt like I was going to dry up like a prune, but it never ended), but I just knew the scale would be good to me, so I did it.

Today’s weight?

131.2!

That’s down 4 lbs since Monday morning (135.2), and much closer to where I expected to be after my trip to New York.

I’ve set a “soft” goal (translation: won’t beat myself up if I miss it) of being back under 127 by January 31st, and back under 125 by February 28th. I think this is very moderate and achievable, especially given my rate of exercise.

My long term goal is under 118 (please keep in mind I’m only 5’2″, so this is a very healthy weight for my size), but I don’t anticipate hitting that until closer to the summer.

So …today’s off to a great start with a positive weigh-in! I’ve packed only healthy foods (homemade fruit salad, non-fat Greek yogurt, a big salad with salmon, and carrots with hummus for a snack), so temptations won’t be an issue. All in all, it’s under 800 calories for the whole day, and that means I get to have a fun dinner (and a glass of wine)!

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori

Today’s Accountability Report

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I’d originally planned to post pictures and measurements, but I hit the gym TWICE today and I’m too exhausted to move.

I weighed in this morning at 134.4, down 0.8 lbs from Monday. This seems like a lot, but considering I gained almost 6 lbs during a five day trip to NYC, I’m sad the number isn’t moving faster (which would indicate water weight). This leads me to believe I really did pack on some “insulation” during those few days.

Mathematically, it doesn’t add up (considering what I ate versus the excruciating amount of walking I did), but I guess that’s just my body.

Here’s how I did today:

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Yeah, I definitely overdid it. An hour of elliptical before work, two hours after, and just one short walk during the day.

Keep in mind my Jawbone Up tracks the movements of my arm as “steps,” so the three hours elliptical make up a HUUUUGE part of those 33k steps. That’s why those steps don’t actually count to my workout, because the mobile app recognizes that I’ve already given myself the credit from the elliptical exercises logged. I swear, I’m not walking laps all day, every day. Hahaha!

Here’s hoping the scale is a little better to me in the AM!

Bon appetit, my friends!
– Tori

P.S. For those curious about my breakdown of nutrients:

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I normally have a protein shake (whey protein, banana, strawberries, and almond milk) for breakfast, a pear or apple for a morning snack, a giant salad (no dressing) with grilled chicken for lunch, hummus and carrots for a mid-afternoon snack, grilled chicken or steak (or fish) for dinner with tons of veggies (cooked in salsa), and then a daily cheat of one glass of red wine (Malbec) and 1-3 pieces of chocolate.

Normally equates to 1,300-1,500 calories.

Accountability for the Day – Day Two

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Well, I survived the Three Kings dinner with my family with minimal damage.

Despite the insane temptations, I managed to eat only half of a chicken tamale, about half of a serving of torta espanola (an egg/potato/onion quiche thing), and just the topping of my piece of Rosca de Reyes, the Mexican version of fruit cake.

Despite wanting to go home and veg out, I kept my workout commitment with my girlfriend and we killed it at the gym:

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Boy, I wanted to quit after the first 30 minutes on the elliptical, but we hopped from machine to machine to keep ourselves from getting bored and it worked! Almost 100 minutes of pure cardio, plus a fun conversation!

I came home hungry, but only let myself have my pre-scheduled mini cheat (two pieces of chocolate, no wine) and a half slice of cheese. I wanted to scarf some leftovers, but it’s almost 11pm and I know I don’t need it.

Day two is in the bag!

Bon appetit, my friends!
~ Tori

Day One Down, a Lifetime to Go!

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Yesterday was a success, with less than 1,350 calories consumed, every color of the spectrum of fruits/veggies, 12 glasses of water, and a kick-ass workout.

I feel good: slightly sore, but strong. I think my strategy of building in a small “cheat” each day is going to really help me stay on track. Last night’s glass of wine and two pieces of chocolate were so satisfying, and knowing I had them to look forward to in the evening kept my will power strong throughout the day.

Tonight will be a bit of a challenge, as we’re having dinner with the in-laws (Three Kings Day) and I doubt they’ll have the healthiest food options. So let’s hope my promise of wine and chocolate later in the evening will help me be strong!

Bon appetit, my friends!
– Tori

P.S. Weigh-in and measurements to come tomorrow!

Accountability for the Day

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Just to keep myself accountable, here’s the summary of my food log and workout diary:

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I am working out with my girlfriend, so there is extra motivation to hit it hard and stick to my clean eating.

I was perfect today: protein shake for breakfast, pear for a morning snack, big salad with grilled chicken (no dressing) for lunch, carrots and hummus for an afternoon snack, and lean flank steak with veggies (sautéed in salsa) for dinner.

My planned cheats? A small glass of red wine (Malbec) and two mini pieces of chocolate (70 calories for both).

It was a good day!

Bon appetit, my friends!
– Tori

Resolutions and Reflections

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Our vacation in New York City was AMAZING!

We ate way more food than we should have, but I loved every minute of it. I am definitely feeling the weight gain, though, and I’m grateful to be in a new year and finally able to return to my routine.

Despite walking 10-20 miles per day (yes, miles!), I put on a few pounds, weighing in at 135.2 lbs this morning. Yikes! Granted, I recognize that some of it’s water weight (I ate a giant, salted pretzel almost daily), so I’m hoping my true weight is closer to 132-133. It’s hard to imagine that I truly gained 5 lbs in 5 days (I was 129.8 the morning we departed on December 30th), but I’ll go with what the scale said this morning just to err on the side of caution.

For 2015, I am not setting any hard resolutions. No crazy diets, no goal weights. Basically, nothing that can lead me to obsessive behavior. I had a rough time with my eating disorder in 2014, especially during the late Spring/Summer when I fell into a bit of a depression, and though it got me close to my goal weight (I was down to 123), it was not healthy and I looked sick. I want to avoid that as much as possible in 2015, so I’ve set achievable, healthy aspirations for the new year.

These are my goals:

  • Drink at least 6 glasses of water per day. (I’m really bad about water consumption during the work day.)
  • Add more variety to my workouts: the goal is 2-3x per week of strength training, plus 1 group class at the gym added into my cardio-heavy routine.
  • Eat a salad daily. Doesn’t matter what meal of the day it is, but I need to consume at least one green, leafy salad per day.
  • Limit myself to no more than 250 calories of “junk” per day. This includes candies, desserts, etc. I’m not going to fully restrict them, of course, but I do need to reduce them if I want to see this chub come back off.
  • Focus on COLORS: try to eat at least one fruit or veggie in the color spectrum each day.

Ideally, I’d like to hit my goal weight (118 lbs) by my birthday (7.11), but I’m not setting any deadlines and I’m not going to measure my success by weight. I’ll post my progress as often as I can (weight, measurements, pictures, etc), but I refuse to focus on any one tool for success other than how I feel.

Below are some pictures of the delicious (albeit, not healthy) foods I ate in New York City on vacation:

 

And then here’s what I’ve had today:

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Much better choices today! 🙂

Bon appetit, my friends!

~ Tori